Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Cut to $184.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $184.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 39.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Argus dropped their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.91.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE:BX opened at $131.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $97.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 6.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.